Effects of wetting agents and cut flower food on the vase life of cut roses.
Ruting, A.;
Acta Horticulturae Year: 1991 Issue: No. 298 Pages: 69-74 Ref: 7 ref.
1991
บทคัดย่อ
Freshly cut roses (cultivars Madelon, Sonia, Cocktail, Idole, Jacaranda and Frisco) were obtained from commercial growers at the prescribed harvesting stage. The flowers were divided into bunches of 5 wrapped in paper and placed in solutions of Agral LN (2 mg/litre; a wetting agent), aluminium sulphate (0.8 g/litre; a bacteriostatic solution) or a combination of the 2, for 24 h at 2 deg C. Control roses were placed in water. Transport was simulated by storing the flowers in cardboard boxes for 24 h at 20 deg . After transport simulation, the stems were recut, placed in vases and maintained at 20 deg , 60% RH and illuminated with light at 1000 lux for 12 h/day. The condition of the flowers was rated daily. In a second experiment, cut stems of cultivars Cocktail, Madelon and Gerdo were placed in vases (5 stems/vase) containing cut flower food solution (Chrysal) or water and vase life was measured. Seasonal variation in vase life was also assessed during a 1-yr investigation using rose cv. Gerdo flowers obtained from 6 different growers. Vase life of cultivars Madelon, Sonia, Cocktail and Idole was increased by treatment with Agral LN or aluminium sulphate and further increased when treated with a combination of the 2. Vase life of Cocktail flowers was almost doubled by the combined treatment (from 4.9 days in water to 8.3 days) and for the other 3 cultivars, vase life increased by 32-54%. The treatment had no significant effect on vase life of cultivars Jacaranda and Frisco. The use of cut flower food significantly increased vase life of cultivars Cocktail, Madelon and Gerdo. The vase life of Gerdo flowers harvested in week 18 was only 6.2 days, which was considerably lower than that measured at other times of the year.